Mission Smile: Cupcakes, Muffins, and a Kiss?
by pyr0technic
Summary: Reggie challenges Dawn to get Paul to smile again after finding an old embarrassing childhood photo. But what lengths will Paul go to to retrieve the photo from Dawn? Reggie is in for a surprise! — Ikarishipping


**plot credit: Sakura-hammy from DEVIANTART**

-o-

_Ding-dong._

After pushing the doorbell with a small, delicate finger, Dawn quickly retracted her hand in favor of nestling it in her coat pocket, instead. It was snowing outside, and therefore it was obviously freezing. Her pink coat and boots were somewhat effective in battling off this intense chill, but her exposed legs protested otherwise.

The door opened with a welcoming wave of warmth.

"Hi, Reggie!" Dawn greeted cheerfully with a wave.

Reggie grinned back as he allowed the girl to enter before shutting the door. "Hello to you too, Dawn!"

Dawn took a moment to remove her boots at the door before entering the kitchen were Reggie resumed cooking something that smelled delightful over the stove. She inhaled deeply and smiled. Ah, how she loved this house.

"So," Reggie began as he caught sight of her at the dining table, "While I appreciate the visit and all, what brings you here in this kind of weather?"

"Right!" Dawn's eyes widened like she had remembered something important. She quickly reached for her discarded coat and rummaged through the pockets to pull out a brown paper bag. "Mom told me to drop this Pokemon medicine off with you."

"Wow, tell her I said thanks! She's been a proper help." Quite awed by Johanna's generosity, he quickly took to mixing it in with his swalot's food. Hopefully the pokemon would heal up properly, now.

Dawn begin to whistle innocently as her eyes drifted about the room. While she mostly came here because of the friendship between her mother and Reggie, there was also another tiny, little reason...

"So, is Paul here?"

Reggie chuckled. "Yep. He's in the living room on the couch, surprisingly relaxing for once!" The bemused expression on his face died as he sighed, next. "But I've got to admit, it's so boring with him around here sometimes."

"Oh. My. God. No way!" Dawn squealed.

Reggie frowned in confusion. "I mean, I guess Paul can be fun... sometimes...?"

"No!" Dawn shook her head and pointed at a photo frame that adorned the kitchen table. "That picture!"

Reggie walked up to where she was pointing and smiled at the sight. Indeed, it was a picture he had found yesterday when he was shuffling through the basement, looking for something.

"I didn't know Paul had the ability to smile!" Dawn marveled, inspecting the photo from all angles as if trying to see if it was fake.

"I know, right?" Reggie nodded in agreement. "I've been trying to get him to smile ever since I found that picture, but erm... to no avail, as you can easily guess," he finished, laughing sheepishly.

Dawn snickered at his crestfallen face.

"Hey, you think you could do better?" Reggie challenged.

"Please. I _know_ I could!"

-o-

"What have I gotten myself into?" Dawn moaned, dropping her head into her hands. There had to be some sort of foolproof method to go about this. Maybe, just maybe...

She remembered her mother's advice.

_Food is the way to a man's heart!_

Thirty minutes later, Dawn approached Paul cautiously with her hands behind her back. He remained splayed out on the couch, unresponsive as ever. She put on a nervously smile. "Hey there, Paul!"

"Troublesome," he muttered drearily, gaze unwavering from the wall in front of him, which was apparently much more fun to look at than the girl standing in front of him.

"Um... this is for you!" Dawn hastily brought out her hands from behind her and shoved the dreaded item in his face. It was a small cupcake, decorated cutely with white and pink icing and a cherry on top.

Paul stared silently for a moment, brow quirking in the slightest confusion.

"What?" Dawn asked, a look of dread forming on her face at Paul's silence.

"...What am I supposed to do with this muffin? And how did it come here?" Apparently, he was completely uneducated on the concept of giving... and cooking.

Dawn felt a vein twitch. "First of all, for your INFORMATION, this is a CUPCAKE! Second of all, I'm here to give it to you, what else!?" she spat incredulously.

Paul simply shrugged nonchalantly at her angered demeanor. "It makes no sense. The only reason you would go to all the trouble was if... you liked me. Or something equally ridiculous."

Dawn paled at the comment, feeling something in her stomach drop. "Okay, _fine_! God. Reggie wanted me to cheer you up, so I made you a sugary baked good in hopes that you would appreciate. Only now do I realize how stupid an idea that was with an ice cube like YOU."

"What I don't understand is why Reggie would invite someone like YOU," he said, mocking her tone.

"Oh, come off it already." Dawn growled, but her anger suddenly simmered down as something seemed to hit her. Eyes twinkling in delight this time, she reached in her pocket to pull out a familiar photograph. "Reggie just wanted to show me some _pictures_!"

This provoked Paul's reaction, finally. His glare sharpened as he caught sight of the dreaded picture. "You-! Where did you get that?" he demanded to know.

"Oh, you can have it back," Dawn said happily. "All you gotta do is smile for me once!" She held the photo behind her back and stuck her tongue out at him, internally dancing with glee. It wasn't everyday one could have Paul hanging on a string.

During all of this commotion, Reggie stood behind the curtain of the living room, camera turned on and ready to go. "I wonder if Dawn can actually do this..."

Paul's mind, meanwhile, was running at miles per hour as he thought of his next move. There was no way in hell he would actually _smile_ for her - he had dignity to protect, here! He wouldn't go around _smiling _willy-nilly because of this stupid girl. It was just so... foolish.

Speaking of the stupid girl, it was all her fault. Paul had to restrain a sigh. How would he be able to stop her...?

Immediately, the idea came to him. All he had to do was the one thing girls her age cared about the most.

The idea was _stupid, yes, he got that_, but unfortunately he didn't contemplate it much further as he reached for her shoulders to lean in and touch his lips to hers and a wonderful, first, _distracting_ kiss.

And I'll take that, Paul thought inwardly as he snatched the photo away from Dawn's suddenly shaking hands.

_CLICK-FLASH!_

"Oops..." Reggie's eyes were wide as saucers as he glanced down at the picture he had taken.

Paul's eyes immediately darted over to the noise, where a sheepish Reggie now stood. Connecting the camera with him and his devious nature, he instantly found out what was going on. "Reggie, you have ten seconds to delete that!"

"Sorry, Paul! No way! I just can't delete your _first kiss_!" Reggie yelled back as he ran off with the camera.

"_Get back here_!" Paul ran after him immediately, glare rivaling the stare of a thousand suns.

Dawn, meanwhile, stood there, frozen. Did that really just happen? "Wait... _first?_ What the bloody hell just happened!?" (A little Ron Weasley for ya, Harry Potter fans.)

"You," Paul said as threateningly as possible while chasing after his brother, "Still owe me a muffin."

"_IT'S A CUPCAKE_!"

-o-

**fin.**


End file.
